ATROCITIES IN ABERDEEN: GRANITE HARBOUR

Granite Harbour is a new police series featuring Davis Lindo (Romario Simpson), who arrives in Aberdeen as a trainee recruit to Police Scotland, having transferred from the Royal Military Police.  The first series has received mixed reviews, with one contributor on the IMDB website criticizing the acting.  However, for location spotters the series proves a fine showcase for the city of Aberdeen.

When Lindo first arrives in Aberdeen, he is shown near a striking granite building with an elaborate exterior.  This is the Marischal College in Marischal Square, originally built for the city’s University, but currently being used as the HQ of the Council.  Another notable part of the city which was used in filming is the Castlegate area, known for its Mercat Cross at the head of Union Street.  As its name suggests, Castlegate was named after the gates to the castle, which were destroyed in 1308.  A Salvation Army citadel stands on the site of the original castle.  We are also treated to aerial shots of the city’s waterfront and beaches.

Marischal College A.  Photo by me, via Wikimedia Commons.

No city-based crime series would be complete without the inclusion of a gritty pub, and in Granite Harbour the boozer in the story is The Bodach Stone where Lindo has a number of encounters with the barmaid.  The real-life pub is The Fittie Bar in Wellington Street, a traditional Scottish pub which has received great reviews for its food.

Aberdeen, known as the Granite City for its proliferation of granite buildings, hence the title of the series, is a fascinating mix of the old and the new.  From the late Middle Ages the city was an important political, ecclesiastical and cultural centre, and many of the old buildings in the part of the city known as Old Aberdeen form part of a conservation area.  The modern-day city is dominated by the North Sea Oil industry, and its harbour is also dedicated to fishing and fish-processing, as well as being a departure point for ferries to Shetland and the Orkneys.

Aberdeen-Harbour-Skyline. Photo by JimmyGuano, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

MURDER ON THE MARSHES: A BIRD IN THE HAND, ANN CLEEVES/NORTH NORFOLK COAST

 Ann Cleeves has previously been known for her novels set in Shetland and in north east England (dramatised for TV in the Shetland and Vera series respectively).  For A Bird In The Hand we are transported to the county of Norfolk and the obsessive world of birdwatching.  The main action takes place in the fictional village of Rushy where a body is found in the marshes, although some of the characters venture further afield to the Scilly Isles and other birdwatching hotspots.  

I have tried in vain to find out whether there is a real-life place which forms the inspiration for Rushy, but having visited the Norfolk coast a few years ago I am convinced the most likely contender is Cley next the Sea where, like Rushy, there are extensive marshes and also a Visitor Centre focussing on the birdlife of the area.  Another giveaway is that there is a windmill in Cley used for accommodation; Rushy also has a windmill which is used as a cafe.

The Skirts, Cley Marshes Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 3010226. Photo by Oliver Dixon, via Wikimedia Commons.

Cley next the Sea has swapped its role as a medieval trading port for that of a mecca for nature lovers, particularly birdwatchers.  Cley Marshes, run by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, is a nature reserve with six hides for birdwatchers to lurk in as they watch out for their feathered friends, which include wintering and migrating wildfowl and waders.  There is a Visitor Centre owned by the Trust on the way into the village from the east with marsh views and a cafe.  The 18^th century windmill now serves as a bed and breakfast and wedding venue, offering stunning views of the marshes and surrounding countryside.

Cley Windmill 1. Photo by Martin Pettitt, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

CRACKING THE CODES: THE IMITATION GAME/BUCKINGHAMSHIRE/SHERBORNE/LONDON

 

Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire started out as a mansion in 1711, later to be pulled down.  The house which was subsequently built on the site was bought by MI6 in 1938 for use by intelligence personnel in the event of war, which turned out to be a wise investment as the centre proved to be a key factor in the country’s victory over Germany in World War Two.  During the War a young Cambridge graduate, Alan Turing, arrived at Bletchley Park and was put in charge of Hut 8, which dealt with German naval cryptanalysis.  While there, he became engaged to Joan Clarke, a fellow cryptanalyst, but they never married as Turing later came out as a homosexual. 

Bletchley Park Mansion. Photo by DeFacto, via Wikimedia Commons.

This story is played out in the film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing and Keira Knightley as Joan, and Bletchley Park appears as itself in the interior shots.  For the exteriors Joyce Grove in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, was used in the filming.   For the town of Bletchley itself, scenes were shot in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, where one of the buildings stood in as Joan’s lodgings.  The town was also used as the scene of a meeting with a possible Soviet spy, and a pillar box was erected opposite 68 Church Street for the scene. 

Church Street, Chesham - geograph.org.uk - 111011. Photo by Cathy Cox, via Wikimedia Commons.

During the film there are flashbacks to Turing’s schooldays, much of which were spent at Sherborne School.  The real-life school in this attractive small Dorset town was used for the school scenes in the film, with its lovely honey-hued stone buildings and arched cloisters much in evidence.

Naturally, any film about the intelligence services will have scenes shot in London.  The evacuation scenes were filmed at King’s Cross Station, while the interior of the MI6 Headquarters was filmed in the Lethaby Building on Southampton Row, seen in the scene where Joan turns up as the only female answering an advertisement for crossword solvers.  In one scene, Turing is seen cycling through a bombed out part of the city; heaps of rubble were dumped in Carey Street, Chancery Lane, for the filming of the scene.  In another throwback to the Blitz, the disused Aldwych Tube Station serves as an underground refuge for the populace. 

Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes, has been turned into a museum commemorating its time as a code-breaking centre.  Guided tours are available, and the museum is open 6 days a week.  Joyce Grove, a country house built in the Jacobean style, is owned by the Sue Ryder charity.  Sherborne is a pleasant small town in north west Dorset, with its Abbey, founded in 705, as the focal point of the town.  Chesham is a market town 11 miles south east from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

Sherborn Abbey.

Map of Bletchley Park and surrounding area.

Map of Sherborne. 

REGENCY WRONGDOINGS: MCDONALD AND DODDS/BATH

Some of the best crime series on TV are those filmed in scenic parts of the country: Vera (ITV) showcases the windswept landscapes of Northumberland and the gritty streets of Newcastle; Inspector Morse and its spinoffs Endeavour and Lewis (ITV) take us on a tour of the venerable streets and colleges of Oxford; and Shetland (BBC) speaks for itself. These are just three examples among many.  In McDonald and Dodds, screened on ITV over three seasons, we are transported to the regency elegance of Bath and surrounding areas, as we follow the intricate caseloads of  “down from London” DCI Lauren McDonald (Tala Gouveia) and her new sidekick the drearily old-fashioned (but brilliant) DS Dodds (Jason Watkins).

 

We are shown some lovely aerial shots of the city, with two of the most famous landmarks standing out: the Royal Crescent and Pulteney Bridge.  Parade Gardens, near the weir below Pulteney Bridge, is where Dodds has a chat with Max Crockett (Robert Lindsay) in The Fall of the House of Crockett (season 1, episode 1), and also features in The War of Rose (season 2, episode 3), in which McDonald and Dodds are seen discussing the case of a murdered vlogger in the gardens, with Bath Abbey looming majestically in the background.   In A Wilderness of Mirrors (season 1, episode 2),  featuring an addiction treatment retreat, we are given a brief glimpse of the interior of a Bath institution, The Bell Inn on Walcote Street, a watering hole famous for its live music.  Queen Square makes several appearances in the series showing people playing boules. 

Pulteney Bridge

 

The countryside around Bath is studded with stunning properties, and some of these were used as locations in the series.  The Crockett household in The Fall of the House of Crockett is Crowe Hall in real life, a grade II listed Georgian mansion in Widcombe, to the east of the city centre heading out towards the University.  Eastwood Park  near Wotton-under-Edge in nearby Gloucestershire was used as the Mara Retreat in The Wilderness of Mirrors.  Other landmarks near the city used in the series include the Box Tunnel, where a murder takes place in We Need To Talk About Doreen (season 2, episode 2), and Dundas Aqueduct where the dramatic final scene of Clouds Across the Moon (last episode of series 3) was filmed.  In some scenes from Clouds Across the Moon we are taken further afield to the mystical town of Glastonbury and its famous Tor. 

Eastwood Park, Falfield - geograph.org.uk - 379225. Photo by Peter Wasp, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

The Royal Crescent in Bath was started in 1767 and consists of 30 Grade I listed terrace  houses, including the city’s most luxurious hotel.  The construction of Pulteney Bridge, designed by Robert Adam in the Palladian style, began in 1769, intended as a link between the city and land owned by the Pulteney family.  There is a small charge to enter Parade Gardens, which provide a pleasant riverside oasis within the city.  There is no charge to enter Bath Abbey, but donations are encouraged.  Queen Square, surrounded by elegant Georgian houses, was opened in 1728.  As in the series, in real life the square is used for playing boules, and is the venue for the annual Bath Boules tournament held in July. 

 

The gardens of Crowe Hall are open to the public several times a year for a small entrance charge.  Eastwood Park, near the M5 to the north of Bristol, is a conference and wedding venue.  The Park consists of a large Victorian house surrounded by 200 acres of countryside.  The Box Tunnel, opened in 1841, cuts through Box Hill on the railway line between Bath and Chippenham.  At the time of building the tunnel was claimed to be the longest railway tunnel ever built.  The Dundas Aqueduct, which opened in 1805, carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon and the railway line between Bath and Westbury.  The town of Glastonbury has a unique atmosphere due to the many “new age” style shops and attendant eccentrics such as self-styled wizards and other spiritual types.  It is reputed to be the burial place of King Arthur, and to have been a site of Pre-Christian worship.  The tor, topped by St Michaels Tower, commands splendid views over the surrounding Somerset Levels.  The tor can often be glimpsed in shots of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place near the village of Pilton, some distance away.

Glastonbury Tor from north east showing terraces 2. Photo by Rodw, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of Bath.

THE GREAT DIVIDE: ESPRESSO TALES/EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW

 In his 44 Scotland Street series, Alexander McCall Smith introduces us to some of the more elegant parts of Edinburgh along with its residents with their varying degrees of eccentricity.  In one of the books, Espresso Tales, we are briefly transported to Glasgow, where the youngest and most engaging character in the series, the mother-smothered Bertie, travels by train with his father in search of a mislaid car. 

There is often a bitter rivalry displayed between the first and second cities of any given country: Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain are two that spring to mind.  In Espresso Tales we are left in no doubt as to which of Scotland’s two largest cities looks down its nose at the other, not least courtesy of Bertie’s insufferable mother, Irene, whose withering remarks about Glasgow lead Bertie to believe that he is heading into the Wild West.  She mutters darkly about deep fried Mars Bars, and tells Bertie to wash his hands while there because “Glasgow is not a very salubrious place”.  She also cites the city’s mortality rates, from drinking, smoking and heart disease.  These foreboding comments are not helped by the fact that, on the approach to Glasgow, “the clear skies of the east of Scotland yielded place to a lowered ceiling of grey and purple rain clouds”.

In the event, Bertie has a splendid time in Glasgow, where on arrival he finds that the railway station is not that different from the one in Edinburgh, and neither are the people waiting at the barrier.  However, he finds the language spoken by the locals baffling, “quite like Italian in some respects”.  Bertie is introduced to this strange dialect in all its glory on meeting the local hard man Lard O’Connor, who lives in the street where the mislaid car is supposed to be, and who introduces Bertie to the Burrell Collection, a famous Glasgow art gallery. 

Main Concourse at Glasgow Central Station. Photo by DrHermannWaltz, via Wikimedia Commons.

Glasgow Central Station is a fittingly grand venue for arrivals at Scotland’s second city.  Originally opened in 1879, with the expansion of rail travel meaning the station was becoming too small, a rebuild took place from 1901 to 1905, with subsequent refurbishments leading to the light, airy concourse encountered today. 

The Burrell Collection, named after the late Sir William Burrell, is the result of Sir William’s love of collecting art and antiques, enabled by the fortune he made as a shipping merchant.  He gave his collection to the city in 1944, and the museum opened in 1983, greatly enhancing Glasgow’s image as a cultural city.  The collection contains around 9,000 items, including Chinese art, medieval treasures and works by famous French artists.  The museum resides in Pollok Country Park to the south of the city, accessible by bus or train.  Once at the park, there is a shuttle bus available for visitors to get around the park’s extensive grounds.

Burrell collection Glasgow. Photo by Helen Simonsson, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of Glasgow. 

ON THE TILES IN THE ISLES: WHISKY GALORE/BARRA AND PORTSOY

 On 5 February 1941 the cargo ship SS Politician left Liverpool bound for the New World with a precious cargo on board: over a quarter of a million bottles of Scotch whisky.  However, the good folk of Kingston Jamaica and New Orleans, the ship’s final destinations, never got to sample the delights of Scotland’s most celebrated export due to a storm which started brewing early on in the SS Politician’s journey, causing the ship to founder off Rosinish Point on the isle of Eriskay.  Word quickly got round that there was an alcoholic bounty for the taking, and the islanders flocked to the scene to ‘salvage’ the whisky, with some coming from as far away as Lewis.  There ensued a cat and mouse game between the ‘salvagers’ and the authorities, who were aggrieved at the loss of duty payable on the goods. The story was the inspiration for a novel by Compton Mackenzie.

There have been two films made which were based on the story of the Eriskay bounty.  The first, In 1949, was made entirely on the tiny island of Barra.  Barra is a fitting location, given it was the birthplace of Compton Mackenzie.  Apart from its undeniable beauty, Barra’s main claim to fame is the eccentric landing experience for those arriving by plane: the plane lands on the beach.  For those wishing to visit the real location of the Whisky Galore story, the ferry crossing from Barra to Eriskay takes 40 minutes.

BARRA AIRPORT ISLE OF BARRA WESTERN ISLES SCOTLAND (5040163112). Photo by calflier001, via Wikimedia Commons.

The producers of the more recent film from 2016 went much further afield for the harbour shots and the filming of the building exteriors.  These were filmed at Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, on the east coast of Scotland, which became the island of Todday for the purposes of the film.  This fishing village, which has the oldest harbour on the Moray Firth, is known for its Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, which takes place each year in late june.  Portsoy Ice Cream proudly proclaims on its website that the stars of the film, which included Gregor Fisher and Eddie Izzard, were regular visitors to its establishment, and that it created special Whisky Galore themed ice creams for the Visit Scotland screening of the film.

Portsoy Harbours - geograph.org.uk - 3534612. Photo by Leslie Barrie, via  Wikimedia Commons.

Map of Barra.

Map of Portsoy.

 

PLAYING THE FOOL IN HARTLEPOOL: THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND THE CANOE

 The story behind the ITV drama The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe is so fantastical that one would think it is entirely fictional.  But in fact the drama is based on a true story, that of prison officer John Darwin, who had racked up debts totalling more than £700,000 arising from properties purchased for renting out.  In order to avoid having to face the music, Darwin set out in his canoe one day in 2002 and ‘disappeared’, presumed drowned, allowing his wife to claim on his life insurance.  In fact, Darwin secretly moved into a bedsit right next door to the family home, before sneaking back into his own home the following year.

 

The real-life location of the Darwins’ home was Seaton Carew on the outskirts of Hartlepool, and this area is where much of the filming for the series took place.  The Darwins owned two adjacent properties on The Cliff, living in one of them and renting out the other.  For the filming, while Elstree Studios was used for the interiors, the exterior shots were filmed at The Headland, an area near the harbour at Hartlepool which is a 10-minute drive north from Seaton Carew.  This was also where the beach scenes for John’s departure by canoe were filmed.  The town scenes, including the bus station with its clock tower, were filmed in Seaton Carew itself.  As for the beach where John emerged, this was filmed at Steetley Pier, about 3 miles north of Seaton Carew, while the real-life location was North Gare, three miles south of the town.

Seaton Carew (32694294543). Photo by Alex Liivet, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Seaton Carew lies near the mouth of the River Tees, and borders on a National Nature Reserve extending from the river mouth to the town’s southern edge.  The much bigger Hartlepool grew up around a thriving shipbuilding industry, and the maritime tradition lives on in the form of the Historic Quay, featuring among its attractions the HMS Trincomalee, Britain’s oldest floating warship.  The town suffered badly during the First World War, particularly on 16 December 2014, when a raid on the town left 117 dead.

Hartlepool Headland- geograph.org.uk - 136636. Photo by Martin Routledge, via  Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.